Wednesday, June 14, 2017

BRP Davao Del Sur completes first mission in Benham Rise

Barely a month after her commissioning, the BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602), the country's second strategic sealift vessel (SSV), has successfully conducted her first major mission by transporting the military and civilian divers who successfully planted at a shallow portion of the Benham Rise (now known as the Philippine Rise) Monday morning.

This was confirmed by Navy spokesperson Capt. Lued Lincuna in a message to the PNA Tuesday.

"Yes, (the Benham/Philippine Rise) mission was her first," he said.

BRP Davao Del Sur left the PT PAL (Persero) shipyard in Surabaya, Indonesia in May 4 and arrived in the Philippines last May 8.

She was commissioned at Sasa Wharf, Davao City during the Navy's 119th founding anniversary with President Rodrigo Duterte as the guest-of-honor and speaker.

BRP Davao Del Sur is the sister-ship of the BRP Tarlac (LD-601) which commissioned in May of last year.

The ship and her crew departed Pier 13, Manila South Harbor last June 8 with around 100 divers headed by Army Scout Ranger Major Christoper Constantino.

The military officer and his team strapped a fiber-glass laminated Philippine flag 57 meters below the surface.

Prior to this, a ship of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) lowered on Sunday a cement base where the flag and its pole were supposed to be hoisted.